‘Deadbeat Cortez’: Ocasio-Cortez Refuses To Pay Party Dues, Angering Some Of Her Democratic Colleagues

Andrew Kerr 

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is one of the most prolific Democratic fundraisers in the House, but she’s refusing to pay any dues to the Democrats’ House campaign organization.

Ocasio-Cortez has failed to pay a penny of the $250,000 she owes in “dues” to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), according to a Friday Fox News report. Instead, she’s leveraging her own fundraising prowess to bypass the Democratic party apparatus and directly support progressive candidates, some of whom are running against her colleagues in the House.

“Deadbeat Cortez should pay her bills,” an unnamed House Democratic aide told Fox News. “She’s always whining about people paying their fair share and here she is leaving her friends with the bill.”

New York Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks told the outlet: “Sometimes the question comes: ‘Do you want to be in a majority or do you want to be in the minority?’”

“DCCC dues are about supporting others because you want to be part of the team,” Meeks said. “The goal is to be in the majority. And the goal is, when you are on a team I would think, to respect individuals whose districts are different than yours.”

Meeks also criticized Ocasio-Cortez’s close relationship with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose revolution, according to Meeks, “is to not just to stop the Republicans, it’s to blow up the Democratic Party.”

Ocasio-Cortez is the third-most prolific fundraiser among incumbent House Democrats, according to Open Secrets. She’s raised $3,354,732 since the beginning of 2019, behind only House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and California Rep. Adam Schiff, who raised $3,717,762 and $4,377,168, respectively.

“For me personally, I’m not paying D-trip dues,” Ocasio-Cortez said, citing a “myriad of reasons,” according to Fox.

“One, I don’t agree with the policy around blacklisting groups that help progressive candidates,” Ocasio-Cortez said in reference to a DCCC policy instituted in 2019 that blacklists third-party vendors that do business with primary challengers.

“I want to help frontline members by putting that money straight into their pocket,” she said.

And Ocasio-Cortez has. She’s raised more than $300,000 for progressive candidates in 2019, some of which are challenging some of her House colleagues, according to Fox News.

For example, Ocasio-Cortez helped raise $35,000 for Jessica Cisneros, a progressive candidate vying to defeat Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas.

“Certainly, these are new times,” Cuellar told Fox News of Ocasio-Cortez’s efforts to put him out of a job, “which is something that we certainly don’t agree with.”

Former DCCC chairwoman Rep. Nita Lowey of New York said Ocasio-Cortez’s refusal to pay her dues could pose a threat to the party, as it may encourage other members to shun the party fundraising apparatus.

“If you are a Democrat and you’re here, you should be part of the effort,” Lowey told Fox News. “But [Ocasio-Cortez] may not feel that way. Each to their own.”

But current DCCC chairwoman, Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos, noted the DCCC’s record off-year fundraising haul in 2019 while downplaying Ocasio-Cortez’s refusal to pay her dues.

“That’s always up to individual members so I guess I don’t think about it one way or another,” Bustos said of Ocasio-Cortez. “We’re raising record amounts of money from our members.”

 

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

This article is republished with permission from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Related posts

27 comments

virgin casino online nj login June 30, 2020 at 12:58 am

ocean casino online nj

betfair casino online nj

real money casino app July 2, 2020 at 3:49 am

sugarhouse casino online

play online casino real money

viagra online canadian pharmacy July 3, 2020 at 11:05 pm

sildenafil 20

best generic viagra

real money online casino July 6, 2020 at 4:44 am

real money online casinos usa

pala casino online

online casino games for real money July 8, 2020 at 10:21 am

real money casino app

slot games

cialis price July 11, 2020 at 1:46 pm

canadian pharmacy cialis

tadalafil 20mg

payday loans July 13, 2020 at 7:03 am

cash advance online

personal loans

loan online July 16, 2020 at 6:49 am

cash loan

payday loans

loans online July 19, 2020 at 8:03 am

personal loan

instant loans

viagra prescription July 22, 2020 at 9:18 am

viagra 100mg

viagra cost

cialis generic July 25, 2020 at 9:05 am

generic cialis

cialis internet

cialis 5 mg July 29, 2020 at 8:05 am

buy cialis

20 cialis

generic for cialis July 31, 2020 at 5:52 pm

generic for cialis

cialis internet

cialis 5 mg August 3, 2020 at 7:23 am

cialis buy

buy cialis

cialis 5 mg August 6, 2020 at 2:06 pm

5 mg cialis

cialis 20

vegas casino online August 9, 2020 at 12:50 pm

online slots real money

real casino online

online casino real money August 13, 2020 at 4:33 am

rivers casino

gambling games

online casinos August 16, 2020 at 8:44 pm

casino games

chumba casino

online casinos usa August 20, 2020 at 7:35 pm

real money online casino

doubleu casino

purchase viagra August 23, 2020 at 7:54 pm

cheap generic viagra

generic viagra 100mg

sildenafil 20 mg August 25, 2020 at 10:43 pm

discount viagra

sildenafil dosage

viagra pills August 28, 2020 at 10:23 pm

order viagra online

viagra online prescription free

generic tadalafil September 1, 2020 at 9:45 am

tadalafil cost

generic cialis online

tadalafil reviews September 5, 2020 at 9:43 am

generic cialis tadalafil

tadalafil 5 mg

online casino real money usa September 15, 2020 at 7:23 am

online casinos real money

casino

casino online games September 18, 2020 at 11:14 am

casino world

casinos

Buy cheap viagra now November 19, 2020 at 12:13 pm

50mg viagra

Buy viagra

Leave a Comment